We have a dream

On January 21st, 2008,
in recognition of the 40th anniversary
of his assassination, millions of Americans
will once again honour the legacy of
Martin Luther King Jr.

An article for theRubicon by Richard Munn

“At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the
night in a dream” 1 Kings 3:5

O

n April 14th, 1865, Good Friday, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Adding mythical status to the Lincoln legend was the report that Abraham Lincoln had a premonition of his death in a dream the night before.

On April 4th, 1968 Martin Luther King was assassinated. This too, brought legend to greatness. Adding a similar mythical quality is his April 3rd public speech with the immortal words: ‘I have seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I have seen the Promised Land.’ There is almost a prophetic sense of the tragedy that is to follow. Is it a premonition of his impending and untimely death?

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Click on the arrow to listen to the I Have a Dream speech
August 28, 1963 (runs: 16:29)

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That moment, as well as the earlier “I have a dream” speech, helped to elevate the vision of an entire nation to a higher moral plane. It leaves the legacy of MLK with penetrating prophetic qualities.

King Solomon also had a dream, and as a result he and the nation are forever changed. Many people are impacted by the dream of Solomon. “Ask whatever you want me to give you,” God says in a dream. Solomon asks for a ‘discerning heart to govern the people and distinguish between right and wrong.’ God is pleased, grants the request and bestows riches and honor. Then we read, “Solomon awoke - and he realized it had been a dream.” From that dream, however, emerges a new king, the like of which was never equaled.

What are we to make of such a thing? Is this flamboyant language or religious gobbledygook; writing that creates a legend out of a king who just happens to be at the right place at the right time and dispenses some savvy political clout?

Solomon, however, is not an isolated example. Even a cursory review of scripture reveals many stories of people who hear from God in dreams. Many are our favorite Bible characters.

Abraham is pronounced patriarch of a great people in a dream. (Genesis15) Jacob sees a stairway to heaven and is never the same again. Joseph’s dreams change the fortunes of Egypt and his family, even as he is ridiculed as a ‘dreamer’. Gideon propels to military victory as the result of a soldiers dream (Judges 7). Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and secures freedom for himself and the people of God.

In the New Testament there are five dreams in opening chapters of Matthew. They are integral to the birth story, and instrumental to the survival of the infant Jesus. Peter’s vision of a large sheet filled with creatures, Paul’s dream of a beckoning Macedonian man and John’s cataclysmic revelation on the isle of Patmos all prove strategic in the salvation story.

Joel’s prophecy was quoted by Peter at Pentecost, “Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). One of the painful disclosures in the book of Lamentations is that there are no more prophets – literally, no more ‘dreamers.’ Hebrews sums it up well: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways” (1:1).

We can conclude that God assigns a legitimate place to dreams in His revelation; communicating his message to people and revealing future events. There is nothing inconsistent with his holiness in this; nothing that smacks of heathenism.

Just for good measure, and with perfect balance, scripture also recognizes that some people will abuse their dreams and falsify them as a sensational ‘word from the Lord.’ Jeremiah is scathing about such people and calls them liars (Jeremiah 23). The dream itself is not a seal of divine truth unless credentials are presented and verified. Additionally, Ecclesiastes recognizes that there is such a thing as an ordinary dream, one that reflects the cares of the day (5:3).

There are common dreams as well as dreams with a message from God, and it is precisely the former - regular dreams, nothing else - where many Christians reside today. But, it hasn’t always been that way.

In the 1,500 years it took to write the Bible, and in the 1,500 years following, believers considered dreams a natural way in which the spiritual world broke into their lives. God’s revelation of Himself through dreams is embraced by the early church fathers. Such a concept is normative in their writings.

Through the years, dreams are one of the most common ways that God communicates with human beings; and that to neglect or reject dreams can separate us from one of the most significant ways God wants to reach out to us. There may be few better ways of observing the hand of God in our lives than the practice of listening to these strange messengers of the night.

You had a dream last night. In fact you probably had four or five significant dreams in which every reaction and sense of your body was engaged. We dream meaningfully about every 90 minutes. We just can’t remember them all now. Some of us may have had a particularly vivid dream, and we can remember it in quite a lot of detail. Dream experience is universal. Across all cultures we are instinctively interested in them. They come with a regular pattern night after night despite most people’s total amnesia next morning.

Dreams hold a fascination for us. We share them at the breakfast table or over coffee with great animation and passion. It has also become big business. Literature on the subject abounds.

Two attitudes prevail: One, they are meaningless and not worth the time of day (or night). Two, they hold the key to unlocking the secret of human personality and lead us to meaning beyond the personal.

It does seem that most evangelicals embrace the first attitude. Paying attention to dreams is considered unusual, even batty. People who recognize scientific validity to dream research can be quite resistant to the idea that dreams are a source of religious insight, an idea that went out with the Dark Ages.

Dreams are perceived as nothing but a rehash of yesterday’s half forgotten experiences, thrown up without any kind of order. They are simply feedback as consciousness rewinds itself in readiness for another day. Vivid dreams happen only when we eat too much pizza, or are stimulated by something like a door creaking while we are half asleep. When we awake from a vivid dream we are strangely moved and troubled, and can hardly shake off its influence throughout the day.

Scientists and psychologists have become much more interested in studying dreams in the last 40 years or so. One of the basic conclusions: Deprived of dreams we become psychologically unhealthy and physically sick. Dreams are highly significant to our mental health. When we are deprived of them, we break down.

Could it be that dreams are a gift from God; a gift that takes us beyond human experience and gives us meaning and purpose; a gift of graphic communication from God himself? Dare we believe that through dreams we are constantly reminded that there is something more than the material world and human reason?

The story of Episcopal priest and author Morton Kelsey is the journey of one person who found new spiritual life as a result of paying attention to his dreams. He found that through his dreams God proved wiser than his own well-tuned rational mind. He was given warnings of danger and direction; during times of depression his darkness lifted and he was given a new sense of hope. He says: “I found a personal being at the heart of reality who cared for me.” He found an experience of the risen Christ that he never thought was possible.

Dreams can help us know God through direct experience. Such an experience is always life changing.

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Click here to download a pdf of the text of Martin Luther King, Jr’s I Have a Dream speech.

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As Kelsey shared and taught he was amazed how people in his congregation began to experience similar spiritual vitality. They moved from rejecting biblical accounts of the supernatural to experiencing such events themselves.

Their collective conclusions? Through dreams God can give us new spiritual insight, wisdom and direction; can expand our horizons and provide us with a sense of mystery. God becomes more personal and seems closer. Acknowledging that dreams mirror our human psyche and personality, it seems natural that God would want to communicate with us, consciously as well as sub-consciously.

Our dreams offer us contact with the spiritual realm. In this realm is the potential for uncommon power for good, as well as evil. Through dreams God shows us things about ourselves we don’t want to look at, but need to. He can also reveal to us what we really want, but can’t rationally fathom, and who we really want to be, but can’t quite become – except in our dreams!

Our dreams can be as simple as yesterday’s events or as complex as telepathy. They can recall distant memories with startling clarity bring up repressed memories or give us a glimpse of life beyond – a vision for the future. When properly understood a dream can become a guide to our lives; a precise guidepost in times of trouble.

It is a legitimate, but forgotten, Christian exercise to pay attention to our dreams. What messages has God had for us that we have missed through inattention? Have we overlooked His very presence in surprising and delightful dreams, where His creativity is seemingly limitless?

Our dreams are specific to us. And that’s what makes this idea so special. God is constantly communicating personally with us; privately and intimately communicating through personal symbols, pictures and stories.

Christians who have rediscovered the role of dreams in their pilgrimage report new spiritual vitality and greater meaning in their prayer life. That can result in greater incentive to action and social justice as shown by MLK.

This involves risk, because almost certainly it is a journey into the unknown. But without risk we peter out and waste away. Hopefully, we want a faith that stretches, which makes us feel a little uncomfortable, which exudes the mystery of God.

We need more dreamers. The church needs more dreamers. The Salvation Army needs more dreamers. Become a dreamer with God. Incline yourself to this possibility and see what God has in store for you.

Sweet dreams!

Writer: Major Richard Munn is a fourth-generation Salvationist. Born in London, England, he spent the first 10 years of his life in the Congo where his parents were missionary teachers for The Salvation Army.

He graduated from St. Luke’s College, Exeter, with a Bachelor Degree in Education. During his student years, he participated in an exchange program through which he worked at The Salvation Army, Camp Wonderland, Sharon, Massachusetts. It was these summers with under-privileged children in Christian community that God used to effect new birth in Christ and a vision for ministry. It was at camp that he met Janet; they were married in 1980.

Major Munn graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary with a Masters in Divinity in 1985. Two years later he was commissioned and ordained as an officer in The Salvation Army.

Following corps work in Camden, New Jersey and youth ministry in Massachusetts, the Munns served as corps officers in Manchester, Connecticut and Divisional Leaders in Northern New England – for six years each respectively. They currently serve at the USA Eastern Territorial Headquarters – as Secretary for Program and Ambassador for Prayer and Spiritual Formation. Richard is the current Executive Officer for the New York Staff Band.

Throughout various ministry appointments Richard has regularly written for Good News, The War Cry, The Officer and The Journal of Aggressive Christianity. He has taught at Roots in the UK, Canada and Southern Territory, as well as On the Edge and the Aggressive Christianity Conference in Australia. He received a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in May 2004. His thesis assesses the egalitarian leadership model of The Salvation Army.

Major Munn is an aspiring theologian, a latent athlete, an avid cook, a backpacking enthusiast and a very keen first (not solo) cornet player. He and Janet have two young adult children, Nealson (21), currently studying at Oxford University, and Olivia (19), serving in Vancouver, BC with the 614 War College.

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